Traditions Bank Robbery Suspect in Custody

The man suspected of robbing the Traditions Bank in Cornelia in December is now in custody. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says it issued warrants for 36-year old Stephen James Villavasso of Norcross in connection with the case.

In a media release issued Thursday, the GBI says the 36-year old Villavasso was arrested on January 26, 2016 by the Johns Creek Police Department after robbing a bank in their city. He was apprehended by officers outside a middle school near the scene.

RELATED: Bank Robbery Suspect Arrested Outside Local Middle School

The GBI conducted a follow-up interview with Villavasso after his apprehension, which resulted in his charges in Habersham County for armed robbery.

READ: GBI Investigates Possible Link Between Spider-Man Bank Robberies

Stills from surveillance video of the Spider-Man robber at Fidelity Bank in Gwinnett County on November 16, 2015. Authorities are investigating to determine whether that robbery is related to the one that happened in Habersham on December 22, 2015.

Villavasso is alleged to have held up the Traditions Bank on Cannon Bridge Road on the afternoon of December 22, 2015. That’s when a robber clothed in camo wearing a Spider-Man mask entered the bank “holding a device, threatening he had a bomb.” The suspect got away with an undisclosed amount of money.

A similar robbery involving a suspect in a Spider-Man mask occurred a month earlier in Gwinnett County. Previously the GBI said they believed the two cases were connected. Thursday’s media release did not mention the Gwinnett County case.

Villavasso is currently being held in the Fulton County Detention Center.

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